Playground Games from Around the World

Are tag and hide-and-seek getting a little boring during recess for your little ones? International Play Equipment Manufacturers Association and the Voice of Play encourage you and your children to check out these fun playground games from around the world. Let us know which one is your child’s favorite!

One child plays the role of the dog and sits on a chair blindfolded. The bone, which can be any object (e.g., a pencil, a ball, etc.) is placed under the chair. The rest of the children stand around the chair in a circle.

Another child plays the role of the leader. He or she gestures to one child to try and take the ‘bone’ from underneath the dog. This child sneaks up to the chair, but if the dog barks in the direction of the child trying to steal the bone, the child must leave the bone and return to his/her spot in the circle.

If a child successfully takes the bone without the dog barking, the children in the circle put their hands behind their backs. The dog must then try to guess who took the bone, without the blindfold. If the dog guesses correctly, the game continues. If the dog guesses incorrectly, a new dog is chosen and the game restarts.

This game requires two teams. The children on one of the teams are the ‘catchers’ and the children on the other team are trying not to be caught.

If a child is caught, he must stand still with his legs apart and wait to be freed by another member of his team. A player is freed when a member of the team crawls through the child’s legs. The game continues until everyone on the opposite team has been caught. Then the two teams can switch roles.

What Time Is It, Mr. Wolf? – Australia
Recommended age: 4+
Minimum number of players: 6

One child plays the role of the wolf. The rest of the children stand approximately 30 feet behind the wolf, who has her back turned.

The rest of the children can ask the wolf, “What time is it?” and the wolf replies with a certain time. For example, the wolf could answer, “It is four o’clock.” The child who asked can then take four steps closer to the wolf.

The wolf can respond at any point, “It’s dinnertime!” The wolf then turns and tries to tag a child. If a child is caught, he becomes the wolf. Alternatively, if a child reaches the wolf and tags her before she yells “It’s dinnertime!” then this child becomes the wolf.

Statues – Greece
Recommended age: 4+
Minimum number of players: 4

One child stands with his eyes covered and starts to count. He must count to at least ten, but there is no limit. The point is that only the child who is ‘it’ knows when he will open his eyes. The other children can run around waiting for the child who is ‘it’ to yell, “Agalmata,” which is statue in Greek.

Once the child yells “Agalmata,” the other children must freeze and take on the poses of famous statues they have seen (e.g., the Statue of Liberty, the statue of David, etc.). If any of the statues are moving, the child who is ‘it’ tags them and they are out. Any remaining statues must hold still while the child who is ‘it’ tries to make them laugh or move in some way. The last statue standing is ‘it.’

This Pakistani game is a fun spin on the regular game of tag. “Ounch” means up and “neech” means down, which all players will need to know.

The game begins with one child being ‘it’ and yelling either, “Ounch,” or “Neech.” If the child selects ounch, then being up is not safe – for example, if one of the children is on playground equipment, on top of a bench or on a sturdy tree stump, they can be tagged by the child who is ‘it.’ If the child selects neech, then the ground is not safe – children must be up on something, including playground equipment, a bench, etc., so that they are not chased and tagged. The first child who is tagged is ‘it’ for the next round.

Get your kids active and stimulate their minds with playground games from across the world.